Nichole Coers on Countee Cullen

Cullen’s writing is very difficult to define. In one way, he is very traditional, but on the other hand he is trying new and different things. Also, his themes are very diverse and it seems that he does not want to confine himself to any one “type” of writing. Some of Cullen’s writing does blend very well with the Harlem Renaissance, but some however does not.

Stylistically, Cullen wrote very traditionally. Rhyme schemes are used in every poem, although they change with each poem. Cullen did not experiment much with his style or even meter, instead he wrote with “iambics in four or five foot lines” (Turner, 69), ballad meter, and other very traditional styles. Although his poetry is very stylistically traditional, many of his ideas are very new. The way that he writes and the images that he creates are very typical of the imagistic movement of the time and also the style of the Harlem Renaissance.

Since Cullen did not want to be remembered as a Black poet, but instead a poet, he did not use all of his creative energy on writing about race. Cullen wrote about what he wanted to write about: love, nature, life, religious questioning, and even children’s stories. Cullen never limited himself in his writing even when he was faced with criticism. Some of this criticism stemmed from the fact that he did not give a lot of attention to race after Color, but some of it was also from his perceived lack of focus and exploration.

Cullen’s “Yet Do I Marvel” is a question to God of why he was placed in the role that he did. Here is my poem in response to this poem:

Role Reversal

Do the laundry, do the dishes.
Marry a good man
And do his wishes.
Make him happy however you can.
A woman should listen
And know her place.
Her eyes should not glisten
When a smile is on her face.
Why was it Eve was tempted
By the Devil so exempted.
This has caused years of woe.
A woman being a defenseless doe.
What would have been the shame
With Adam taking all the blame?

Cullen devotes an entire section of Color to epitaphs. Each has only four lines with every other line rhyming. (Some of my rhymes don’t quite work, but they’re close.)

To Grandpa

A farmer out upon the plain
      He worked hard both night and day.
I never even got to say his name
      Before God had to call him away.

For a Girl I Know

She only ever acted nice
      And never was a friend.
I wonder if she found her peace
      Before the very end.

Cullen also enjoyed writing about nature, and although this does not rhyme, I really liked it.

Bare toes on sandaled feet
Pajama pants and a coat thrown on
“It’s snowing! It’s snowing!”
Dancing and laughing
And catching flakes on my tongue
A playful child

At twenty.

This is another nature poem, similar to those Cullen wrote.

Snowflakes fall.
Butterflies flittering
In the wind glittering.
Some quick and some slow
Littering the world below.

Nichole Coers

A Book Review of Color by Cullen Countee

Countee Cullen was a very vital part of the Harlem Renaissance, but he was also rather removed from it. Color was his first and most well accepted collection of poetry. After this followed many other good works, but none received as much praise as the first. Eventually, Cullen switched over to children’s books and even a screenplay. Cullen continually fought inside and out as to what kind of writer he wanted to be and even, it seems, his identity.

Color was Cullen’s most racially heavy collection. In it he includes poems like “Heritage” and “Yet Do I Marvel.” “Heritage” explores one of the fundamental questions of the Harlem Renaissance, “What does being “Negro” in America mean?” Cullen was exploring who he was and where he fit in. “What is Africa to me?” Is there a collective unconscious that he can pull on to bring him back to Africa and back to his ancestors? In “Yet Do I Marvel,” Cullen explores the question of God putting him through the strife of being Black and a poet. Why would God impose a will to speak out to someone that “no one” would want to listen to?

Darwin Turner, in his book, "In a Minor Chord: Three Afro-American Writers and Their Search for
Identity," claims that Cullen falls subject to the “popular stereotype” that African-Americans are naturally more rhythmic and in tune with nature than white people. Cullen claimed that even though he was not musically inclined, such as singing, but his poetry was his music. “Perhaps I was impelled toward the lyrical pattern, when I began to write, because a destiny took pity on my musical poverty,” Cullen claims.

Also in Color, Turner notes Cullen’s amazing epitaphs. In these, Cullen compacted thought and a person’s whole life into just four lines. These poems are reminiscent of the voices speaking from beyond the grave in Spoon River Anthology published just ten years earlier and was very popular. Cullen would have known about this collection and may very well have read it. Turner does not indicate this as an inspiration for Cullen, but I believe his familiarity is a probable conclusion to make.

Darwin Turner claims that Copper Sun was not a shining accomplishment for Cullen. Copper Sun, he claims, was sometimes repetitious of themes from Color and his language and imagery were echoes of other poets such as Shelley, Donne, and Millay. Turner also complains of the personal nature of the love poems in Copper Sun and the problems that develops with trying to gain reader sympathy. Also, Tuner criticizes Cullen’s use of conceits, paradoxes, and imagery on what Turner believes are “trivial subjects and themes” (p73.)

Later in life, after his second marriage, Cullen changed directions and wrote a novel, One Way to Heaven, an epic-like poem and a short collection called The Medea and Some Poems, a children’s book The Lost Zoo, and his cat’s autobiography My Lives and How I Lost Them. None of these works were received very well. However, Cullen was flexing his muscles with other types of writing, which seems to be something he really wanted to do- explore. He also wrote a screenplay titled St. Louis Woman which was performed only after his death. In his last years Cullen also collected his favorite poems into the volume On These I Stand.

Cullen’s life was full of change in his writing. Cullen was finding what he wanted his writing to be and how it would be remembered. He explored many different types of writing and themes. Although Cullen did not want to identify himself as a Black poet, he is most well-known for his poems on race. Even though Cullen received criticism for his work, he has gained recognition among the best of poets of the Harlem Renaissance.

Cited Source

Turner, Darwin. In a Minor Chord: Three Afro-American Writers and Their Search for
Identity. Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press: 1971.